


The Butterfly Effect

by Xejis



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, 幽☆遊☆白書 | YuYu Hakusho: Ghost Files
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe, Crossover, Fluff and Angst, Full Story, Gen, Kurama becomes Tsuna's brother, typical cannon violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-07 03:12:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11050107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xejis/pseuds/Xejis
Summary: (Full story) Kurama gazed silently up at the pale human women holding him close. He would have sighed if he could. He had thought himself so smart, but he now recognized that he had been more delirious from pain than he realized. A human mother. Human parents, if that blond kicking up a fuss in the corner was his father. Who would have thought he'd fall so low?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This idea was written and created in my drabble series before my Naruto fic. In fact, I got the idea for Broken Reflection from the drabble. This is the full story for that series (which I will upload later), however, both will probably have super slow updates.

#### "In this life, we have to make many choices. Some are very important choices. Some are not. Many of our choices are between good and evil. The choices we make, however, determine to a large extent our happiness or our unhappiness, because we have to live with the consequences of our choices." ~James E. Faust

#### 

Kurama didn't have a clear memory of his original mother. The demon world was never a kind place, but during his childhood, it had been in utter turmoil. The spirit world had once again stuck their noses where they didn't belong and were forcing demons back into the borders of the demon realm. All in the name of safety for the humans, though everyone knew the spirit realm didn't care much for the mortals themselves despite their fancy words.

The demons saw it for what it was; a direct attack on them in order to control and regulate them. Thus a long and bloody war broke out as demons tried to prevent their ultimate seclusion from the three worlds. However demons, although violent by nature, were never truly made for war. Organization was a weakness, one that cost them their freedom. The armies of the spirit realm descended and the demons were forced into their realm and kept there by a barrier.

Being stuck in a place by force, no matter how vast that place was, angered them into a frenzy. Even some of the more 'docile' of the demon species were stirring up trouble. There were battles left and right for scraps of land, food, females and general dominance. It was during this time that weakness was not tolerated in any way, shape, or form.

Needless to say, when one lone fox demon gave birth to a kit with hair and skin as pale as the moon she abandoned it immediately. Such coloring would only attract trouble within the greens and browns of the forest she called home. This was not a unique occurrence. After all, most fox demons had a plant affinity which was only useful for healing and hiding. They, unlike their non-magical counterparts in the human realm, were cowardly and selfish creatures who regularly ran abandoning their own kind to save themselves.

He was no exception.

However, he was strong unlike the rest of his weak-willed kind. He was smart. He survived where others would have died. Surrounded by the constant fear of death he watched. He learned. He was smaller and his coloring made him stand out too much to hide properly, so he learned to be fast, to be smart, and to be completely and utterly ruthless.

For a long time, he slipped through the cracks, stealing the bare minimum to live and avoiding battling. He perfected the art of bluffing and ran to avoid fights he knew he couldn't win. For a long time, he didn't think of anything more than living to see the next day. But, even as a child, he was greedy. He could have lived like that the rest of his life, but he wanted more. He wanted the kind of confidence he saw in the powerful demons.

He wanted the ability to cause others fear the way they did him.

So, he did what no other fox demon had considered. He used his plant affinity to fight. It was unconventional and difficult to control, but he had always been smart. He beat the more violent plant species into submission and experimented on different battle tactics with weak opponents. He developed his own fighting style through trial and error. After years of dedication, he managed to turn an affinity that had been used mostly for healing into a dangerous weapon. He made demons fear the subtle sway of the trees and the brush of falling leafs.

He gained the strength he had always envied and it pulled demons to his side, both the strong and the weak.

As his reputation grew, more and more demons flocked to his side. Some tried to defeat him to gain fame. Others tried to seduce him for bragging points and others still tried to make connections with him for their own protection. Kurama never knew his mother's face or her voice and though many had tried to claim him as their own after his rise to infamy, he never bothered caring. He may very well have killed his mother if she had been among the desperate female demons to try and use him as a shield by pulling on nonexistent family ties. He took great joy in beating those weaklings into the ground, after all, he had never resorted to such pathetic methods even as a young child with no power.

He didn't care about their pathetic lives.

He had grown up alone. Fought alone. Succeeded alone. It was his sheer will to live that pushed him through his childhood and it taught him complete self-reliance. Even after he formed his own group and rose higher in power and fame he never fully relied on any one of his bandits, much to the distaste of his second in command. Yomi would complain endlessly over Kurama's lack of trust. However, Kurama knew that any demon could and would stab you in the back as soon as you put an ounce of trust in them. Other people would only let you down in the end.

_(Kuronue thought he was silly, but his death proved Kurama right.)_

The bat demon was probably the closest thing Kurama had to a friend, not that he would ever admit it. The annoying demon wasn't as strong as Kurama, but he clung to him like a limpet and wouldn't let go regardless of the many, many times Kurama attacked him or attempted to kill him. Despite not being particularly powerfully, the bat was tenacious. He was fast and he was smart.

And stubborn.

He was very, very stubborn.

He never officially joined Kurama's group but danced through their camp like he owned the place amusing everyone with his antics, much to the ire of Yomi. His second in command complained and whined over Kurama's lack of action almost as much has he complained about his lack of trust.

When Kurama organized Yomi's murder and left his group to fend for themselves, the bat demon followed him. Clinging to him even stronger despite Kurama's threats to his life on a regular basis.

_("You'd do something stupid if I left you alone.")_

He was right.

Kurama bit off more than he could chew when he slipped into the spirit realm to wreak some havoc after Kuronue's death. In his denial over his own grief, he pushed himself to the limit hoping to reach higher infamy by being the first to steal from the Spirit King himself. He nearly paid the ultimate price for fame and a mere babble he would grow bored of in a few years' time.

Through the delirious haze of pain, he had thought himself a genius when he came upon the pregnant woman after he had fled to the human realm in hopes of escaping his pursuers and would be executioners. The child within her womb was already dead. The soul was gone. Being in spirit form himself and on the precipice of death, he was able to slip right into the empty body. The last of his power strengthened the woman enough to allow his birth at a healthy time for his newly human body.

Eminent death avoided and sudden mortality achieved, he fell into a much-needed sleep for the remainder of pregnancy not even giving himself a chance to fully understand what he just did to himself.

Kurama gazed silently up at the pale human women holding him close. He would have sighed if he could. He had thought himself so smart, but he now recognized that he had been more delirious from pain than he realized. A human mother. Human parents, if that blond kicking up a fuss in the corner was his father.

Who would have thought he'd fall so low?

Yomi would be sneering at him if he knew. Kuronue, on the other hand, would most likely start laughing hysterically.

However, he did what he had to in order to survive. Like he had always done. As much as he was disgusted by his current state he was also proud that he managed to survive what others, even the highest ranking demons, would consider a death sentence. No one had escaped the Spirit World's Elite Soldiers, until now.

Then again, it wasn't as though anyone would know about it until he managed to get his full powers back and figure out a way to shed this mortal body.

He blinked slowly as the nurse fussed over him; worried over his silence.

His new mother ignored the other woman as she continued to hold him tightly, despite her obvious exhaustion. The woman was smiling so brightly while cooing breathlessly. He could hear his new human father making a fool of himself in the background, though he could only catch snippets of the conversation. Between his weak newborn senses and his lack of understanding of the language, he could comprehend very little. He turned his eye toward his new 'mother' as she sighed and opened her mouth to speak.

"You'll be Shuichi. Sawada Shuichi."

It was hell.

Though only a few days had passed he was already sick of his new reality. His limited vision and mobility enraged him. The humans who only seemed able to fuss and coo disgusted him. He wished he could express his utter disdain for these weak mortals, but alas he couldn't speak and was too proud to scream at them with his shrill infant voice.

He settled for glaring, as much as a baby could, at everything and everyone.

Unfortunately, even that did not stop the cooing and coddling he was subjected to by various friends and associates of the Sawada family. Kurama filed them all under unobservant idiots. His 'parents' being at the top of the list. Eventually, thankfully, his strange behavior did cut through the euphoria of new parenthood.

His human 'father' was the first to noticed or at the very least the first to react to his 'son's' odd behavior. Kurama took a vindictive pleasure in the man's confusion and fear. It started off as quick glances and a hesitance to hold him. Fear slowly seeped into the confusion as the man began to realize that his 'son' was more aware than a baby had any right to be. Kurama assumed that he would snap at some point. Or at least, he hoped the man would snap at some point if only to give him some joy in this endless hell.

Kurama didn't, however, expect to be taken silently to an unknown place where he was examined and prodded by some rather strange people, for humans that is. He was not especially fond of the elderly human who tapped him lightly with a strange orange flame.

What shocked him to the core, however, was the appearance of another child. A baby that had more control and power than should be possible for such a small body. Kurama didn't know what he was, but envy coursed through him violently whenever the other child entered his line of sight.

He didn't catch much of the conversation due to his limited senses and lack of understanding of their language, which was different than the one his 'parents' spoke to each other with, but they seemed to decide that he was, in fact, the idiot blonde's 'son' and not an imposter of all things. He would have smirked if he could. He was the idiots' child by blood, but his soul was another matter. Their limited human knowledge and power couldn't recognize the signs. They focused too much on their sciences and technology. Had they brought in a more spiritually aware human, he would have been slightly worried given his vulnerable state, but the humans had proven themselves fools once again.

He was returned to his 'mother' and his 'father' left for work a week later, unable to look at Kurama for more than a few seconds. He would have laughed if it didn't come out as a tiny gurgle rather than the derogatory sound he aimed for.

Left alone with the woman he learned very quickly that she had noticed his difference, however, unlike her husband she seemed to fully accept it. It was frustrating and confusing. She seemed to fully realize his hatred for being treated like the infant he was and from that point on the cooing and snuggling stopped completely. Along with the baby talk, toys and obnoxious clothing.

Instead, she spoke and generally treated him like an adult. She still took care of him like the infant he was, but the core interactions were worlds different. His every sign of annoyance and hatred was met with blinding smiles and sparkly eyes, while his discomforts were addressed as soon as he expressed them.

It was very annoying.

He wanted her to get angry or upset. He wanted her to act like his 'father' did when he began to notice his differences. He wanted her to fear him and treat him with the respect he deserved. But, most of all, he simply wanted her to leave him alone.

But she didn't.

There was a softness in her gaze when she looked at him. A gentleness in her touch.

She loved him dearly even after recognizing he wasn't normal.

It was very frustrating.

It was confusing.

When he had more control of his movements he would hit her whenever she came close enough. When he gain more strength, he would throw things at her. He turned up his nose at every little thing she bought for him. Showing his disdain for her in his acid green eyes. He expected her to break.

She never did.

She continued to smile.

She continued to love him absolutely.

It was tiresome. His only amusement came from his 'fathers' visits and the human's attempts at ignoring him.

The man seemed to be completely terrified of him. Eventually, he grew tired of their interactions and started ignoring her completely. Instead, he began working on trying to adjust to a human body with human needs. Despite his numerous attempts, he could not reach the level of mobility the other infant had and that irritated him to no end.

Nearly two years passed without much improvement.

Then his annoying human 'mother' got pregnant again. The amount of fawning and general attention his 'father' gave her was entertaining at first, but very quickly became tiresome. Especially after his realization that he would have to deal with another human on a regular basis. A human child.

He cursed his abysmal luck.


	2. Chapter 2

###### "The acknowledgment of our weakness is the first step in repairing our loss."~Thomas a Kempis

Kurama didn't like the wrinkly, little mess of an infant everyone called his brother. The fact that the child's birth led to the most infuriating week of his life most likely added to his dislike. Though, even if he hadn't had to sit in a hospital waiting room with nurses and the elderly neighbor, from across the street, mothering him for seven hours as his 'mother' gave birth he would have still disliked the child greatly.

Of course, the human simply had to be born early. Which led to both the mother and infant remaining in the hospital for longer than normal. Which led to Kurama being stuck with that elderly neighbor he never bothered to learn the name of, because his father was still caught up in his work, wherever that was, and thus was unable to take care of Kurama. Not that he would have anyway, but Kurama ignored that fact while he grumbled and complained within the safety of his own mind.

The previously mention elderly neighbor was a very strait-laced traditionalist sort and apparently got it in her head that his 'mother' wasn't as faithful as she appeared. As funny as it was at first it very quickly became rather annoying to listening to her fluttering between cooing at him and muttering her disappointment at his 'mother'. Between his red hair and bright green eyes, he didn't quite blame her for making assumptions, but her constant slew of derogatory comments became as irritating as her insistence on treating him like the almost two-year-old he technically was.

At least his weak and decidedly strange human 'mother' was observant enough to realize how much he hated such treatment.

Kurama was almost happy when he was finally returned to his 'mother' and new 'brother'. 

That almost happiness was immediately shattered the first night the new occupant of the house started screaming routinely every night. Needless to say, he was not amused from that point forward.

Things only got worse when his 'father' finally decided to make an appearance.

His constant attempts to seclude him were as pathetic as they were exasperating. Kurama became even more surly and retreated to his room as often as he could in order to work silently on both his motor skills and harnessing his demonic energy. Both of which were severely lacking.

Time passed and his 'father' left, allowing their household to fold back into its normal routine. He started showing up for meals at the table again, despite his utter disgust over the new infant's eating habits. He knew that despite being the same position he had never been that messy. All of his 'mothers' insistence on him spending time with his 'brother' were ignored or turned down immediately.

It was nearly a year after the birth of his loud and messy little 'brother' that something completely out of the ordinary occurred.

For some reason, Kurama would never be able to fully understand, his 'brother', Tsunayoshi, had decided he, Kurama, was the best thing in the world. Due to this strange decision, he would somehow always manage to gravitate towards Kurama whenever he was in the room. Kurama simply ignored the odd human child as much as he could and continued with his own activities. After all, the child was too young for his subtle manipulations to work and frankly too weak to be of use anyway.

Unfortunately, while Tsuna was still trying to understand how legs worked he managed to knock over a full glass of water, sitting innocently on the coffee table, onto his older brother and the book he was reading at the moment. Kurama's anger was fierce as he turned to the pathetic mess of a human child with his small fist raised...

Only for Nana to jump in snatching Tsuna off of the floor, away from her eldest child's reach.

They started at each other for a brief moment before Nana opened her mouth and lectured Kurama for the first time. Kurama could only stare in shock as the woman shouted and pleaded tears in her eyes. She spoke of family and brotherhood. How each should be treated. She told him he could hate her and hit her all he wanted, but _please, please don't hurt Tsuna._ She clutched the babe to her chest as her voice cracked as if to trying to protect the child.

Her breakdown didn't last long before she grimaced and walked out of the room. Kurama could hear her shushing the crying Tsuna and putting him down for a nap before she walked back into the room tears still in her eyes.

She sat down on the floor next to his still wet form and pulled him into her arms for the first time in years. She sat there rocking back in forth as she cried and talked.

She told him about her childhood. About coldness that seemed to seep into every centimeter of the old mansion. She told him how she had tried so hard to gain her parents attention, but they were always busy and had no time for the clumsy, naive girl they called their daughter. She couldn't do anything right. She wasn't smart and didn't have any skill in business.

She told him how she ran away from home and lived in the ghettos for a while, barely scraping by with her lack of knowledge of how the real world worked.

She told him about meeting his 'father'. How he had helped her and gave her confidence in herself. How she fell so deeply in love with him.

Then she talked about how happy she was when she realized she was pregnant with him. She told him about her promise to herself. How she would be the best parent she could. She would accept her children as they were. The way her parents never had. She explained how scared she was when she thought she'd lost him and her utter joy when he was born.

She apologized over and over again for yelling at him and all of her self-perceived faults and flaws as a mother.

Kurama simply sat there tense and confused throughout this sudden break in normalcy. He listened quietly to the woman's words and didn't push her away even though her tears dripped into his hair.

When she had run out of words she gave him a shaky smile and loosened her grip. She picked him up and got him cleaned up before tucking him in for a nap of his own. For the first time, he simply went to sleep without a fuss.

He dreamt of the warmth he had felt on the verge of death. Wandering the human realm without a goal or a purpose other than to survive, somehow. He dreamt about the gentle soul of his mother brushing with his own damaged one chasing away the pain and the fear.

He told himself later that he didn't protest any of her words or actions because he was in shock over her strange behavior.

He completely ignored the dream.

He didn't have any excuses prepared for that.

Things went back to normal the next day. His 'brother' with his tiny attention span seemed to forget all about yesterday's incident and continued with his odd hero worship of Kurama. While his 'mother' seemed to have resolved not to mention or even vaguely allude to her break down and instead acted like nothing was wrong and she didn't change Kurama entire perception of her.

Kurama played along, but he kept an eye on the women trying to figure out how to view her in light of yesterday's events. He had never considered her reason for treated him the way she did. He knew it was out of the ordinary considering his 'fathers' reaction to his attitude, but he never put much thought into her resolve to love him unconditionally.

It was irritating.

It was confusing.

Humans were annoying and weak. That's what he had always thought of them. Since he had been born after the barrier was created, he had never met any before this point in his life, but that didn't mean he was uninformed. He had known that they were weak _(and they were, damn it, his own useless body proved that)_ , he had known that they lacked magic or really any sort of power outside of a certain few with enough spirit energy to see and exercise ghosts.

He knew...

He looked at the book in his hand. He had wondered what advancements the humans had made in their medical field and found a book on Medical and Biological Engineering. He barely understood a portion of the book due to the extensive use of medical and scientific terminology, but he puzzled through it with the use of a dictionary.

Could a truly weak specifies develops ideas like these?

They lacked the physical strength of demons, but hadn't he learned a long time ago that the mind was just as powerful?

_(He had been a weak little thing once that had to rely on his wits and mind to survive.)_

Despite their lack of magic, humans had continued to expand and develop through other areas. He had seen the strange vehicles they used on the streets and the technology they used to communicate with one another over long distances. His 'mother' regularly use technology he had no concept or understanding of in the kitchen to create meals.

He was starting to see how little he knew of these humans.

_(It was irritating, to be so uninformed.)_

He glanced at the little human child sitting next to him playing with his toy action hero, then he looked over at the woman still hovering at the entrance to the living room. She smiled brightly when she saw him looking at her.

_(Could he really call her weak after all he put her through?)_

He felt his eye twitch slightly when the brat leaned on him and yawned widely, but didn't move.

Humans were...strange.

He needed to learn more.

If he continued to let the child lean on him for the remainder of the day, no one said anything.

_(Though the woman looked especially happy during dinner and had cooked his favorite dishes.)_

This calm remained in place for several weeks after the woman's initial breakdown. Kurama continued to ignore both the woman and child, but he didn't go out of his way to be antagonistic like he had before. Instead, he focused on learning more about the humans their advancements, even if he struggled to understand some of their terminologies.

_(In the back of his mind he hoped things would remain this way, but apparently, his abysmal luck had to rear its ugly head once more.)_

This peace was broken by the child, who in the mists of a tantrum preceded to catch on fire. Kurama had leaped to his feet in a moment and rushed over to the child but had found the boy completely untouched and seemingly unaware of the flames surrounding him.

The boy stared at him with wide eyes, apparently forgetting his tantrum, before slowly smiling and giggling as he was prone to do when he caught sight of Kurama. The flames disappeared with a single trace. He patted the child's head awkwardly and went back to his book as he tried to get fast beating heart under control.

Apparently, he was completely wrong about humans not having power.

In the wake of his frantic information gathering after his brothers initial flame incident, Kurama had already pieced together that his father was not honest about his job. In fact, Kurama had a sneaking suspicion that the unknown job in question was illegal in some way. It didn't really matter to him, but he knew it had something to do with the flames his brother sometimes released. He remembered that the man had brought him to strange people after his birth and a particular older human had touched his forehead with the same color flames his 'brother' released. His mother had decided to keep him home instead of sending him off to a daycare or kindergarten. How she managed that, he wasn't quite sure, but he was grudgingly grateful for that. He wasn't sure if he was ready to be surrounded by other human brats.

Tsuna was enough trouble, especially since lately those strange flames showed up every time he was upset or overly excited. Their mother didn't seem to see it and it didn't burn Tsuna or even himself, so he wasn't overly worried for his brother's life. It was still disconcerting, however, since he had absolutely no knowledge of these powers. He had heard some humans had powerful spiritual abilities, but he had never heard mention of flame-like abilities.

Unfortunately, with the limited resourced he had at his disposal he couldn't find the answer to either his father's job nor Tsuna's new ability.

That was until the answered walked straight through his door one afternoon a few weeks after Tsuna's fifth birthday.

Kurama eyed the old man suspiciously from his position in front of Tsuna. The boy had taken to hiding behind him whenever they had strangers over. Currently, the elder was smiling sheepishly and apologizing for canceling his visit last spring. Iemitsu had his arm around his mother's waist as she soaked up his sob story without a hint of doubt leaking into her composure.

Apparently, the old human was Iemitsu's boss.

Kurama was less than impressed with the vague descriptions of their work, though he did mention he was from Italy. He filed that information away for later examination as the adults in the room finally turned their gazes on the two children. His 'father' gushed over how cute Tsuna was and how much he had grown while making several unsuccessful attempted to remove him from behind Kurama. Tsuna clutched the back of his shirt and Kurama reached back smoothly to run his hands through the boy's soft hair. The familiar gesture never failed to calm the frazzled child, though he doubted Iemistu bothered to learn that fact.

Tsuna finally calmed down enough to allow himself to be separated from Kurama and swept up into his father's arms. Kurama twitched minutely not trust the man one bit as he threw Tsuna in the air and caught him, however, he was distracted by the older human kneeling down in front of him.

"Hello there Shuichi-kun. My name is Timoteo. I'm your father's boss."

Kurama eyes him for a moment trying to decide what approach he'd use, before deciding naive child with a bit too much perception would do nicely.

"Nice to meet you Timoteo-san. You're a con-contruc-construction boss?" He tilted his head and widened his eyes in a way he knew most adults couldn't resist while clutching the front of his shirt to portray nervousness.

For a brief moment, the man's eyes narrowed and Kurama's breathe caught in his throat at the amount of danger presented in those deceivingly average brown eyes. Then the man smiled just as calmly as before while nodding his head.

"Why, yes, I am. Your father sent you a postcard from one of our constructions on the North Pole, right?"

"Oh yes! The penguins were adorable!" His mother gushed while giggling like a school girl.

Kurama frowned inwardly. Silently giving the human points for being able to spout that ridiculous lie without a single twitch.

The rest of the visit was less informative than he would have hope. It seemed the two men had made an agreement beforehand not to talk about their work at all except for in, what Kurama assumed was, Italian. He would sit in the room or in the next one busying himself with normal children activities.

However, they never slipped up and the old man tended to shoot him amused looks.

All he could do was memorize certain words or phrases they repeated or seemed important. After they left, he planned to learn Italian for easier eavesdropping in the future. His mother wouldn't question it. She never even looked remotely curious as to why he would want certain books. High-level Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Botany. Anything he was vaguely interested in learning to further his education in the human advancements and technology. He would grab himself or point to a book and his mother would buy it for him.

Well, there was that one time when he tried testing her patience with the porn magazine...

Kurama shook his head and returned his focus to the little game of ball he and his brother were playing while the adults sat watching and chatting off to the side. He watched absentmindedly as his mother went to get refreshments while keeping an eye on his little brother's progress in getting the ball back from a bush.

He turned and smiled at Tsuna when he finally got it and came trotting back, but was unable to stop the boy from tripping over his own feet. He sighed and went over to him as his 'father' laughed loudly. He helped him up noting the wobbly lip and tear filled eyes, but no obvious injuries.

"It's okay Tsuna." He said as he patted the boy's head. "You're not hurt, you'll be fine."

He nearly cursed when the boy looked over at their still laughing 'father' and the wobble became more pronounced.

Tsuna burst into tears. Making Kurama wince. He was never sure how to deal with the boy when he cried. After the first flame incident, he put more effect into getting to know the child, but he was still unsure of how to deal with him, having no experience with children. Much less, children that randomly burst into flames when they cried.

Of course, the strange flames had to make an appearance today. He reached out for his brother to try and calmed him down like normal, usually, a few pats on the head did the job when he was tugged away suddenly. He nearly scowled at his 'father's' unwanted involvement and did scowl at the old human when he tried to get close to Tsuna.

He wasn't sure what the strange flame on the end of the old human finger would do, but he wouldn't let him touch his brother. He sunk his small baby teeth in Iemitsu's arm and quickly shuffled himself between Tsuna and the two adults.

"Shuichi!"

"Shuichi-kun, please stand aside. I'm just trying to calm little Tsuna down. You don't like seeing your brother cry, right?"

"Tsuna is fine." He insisted. Trying to make his voice sound like a petulant child.

Turning to his brother as if proving a point he ran his hands through his hair and murmured softly to him. Like usual the flames merely tickled his skin leaving behind a strange warmth, but nothing more as they faded away. He wrapped a protective arm around the boy as he turned to the narrowed eyed adults.

"See, Tsuna is fine."

His mother chose that moment to reappear cutting through all of the building tension like a breath of fresh air. Kurama tightened his gripped on Tsuna's shoulders making the boy look at him funny. He looked at his snot cover face for a moment before shaking his head and dragging him inside to get cleaned up.

The old man left the next day, but not before trying to do that strange flame thing several times. Kurama stopped him each time, sometimes even with the help of his mother. There was no way her timely appearances were entirely coincidences.

This only seemed to upset Iemistu terribly, but Timoteo seemed to find it amusing after the first couple of times.

His 'father' left a few days later allowing everything to return to normal.

Or at least, that's what Kurama first assumed.

Kurama hadn't been paying attention. Something he would always regret whenever he thought of that moment later in life no matter how many time his mother claimed it wasn't his fault.

They were walking home from the grocery store.

Tsuna was holding their mother's hand while Kurama walked a few steps in front of them. It was cold and he wanted to be inside, instead of out in the snow.

He never did like winter.

The car screeched loudly as it jerked to a stop in front of them.

Reaching for his demonic power and coming up short...

Kurama froze.

That's what cost him in the end.

The man that jumped out of the car was human, Kurama noted vaguely as he watched him smirk and preen. He was saying something in what Kurama identified as Italian, but he spoke too quickly for him to catch any of the basic words he had started learning. Their lack of understanding and therefore lack of response seemed to irritate the man.

A gun made an appearance.

He waved it around just most likely trying to intimidate them. When they still didn't answer what must have been questions he grew angry.

The man aimed threateningly at Kurama, but he wasn't able to do anything about it.

He wasn't even able to make a noise when his mother yanked him behind her and took the shot for him.

From that point on everything seemed to move in fast motion.

The man hadn't been subtle at all, despite the snow the street had been semi-busy and someone had called the police. The police in Namimori had always been quick. It probably had to do with the fact that a Hibari had always been Chief of Police and that family was simply scary.

Kurama watched, vaguely aware of his brother clutching his arm tightly, as an ambulance arrived on the scene.

It took his mother away.

Her pale face twisted in pain.

An Officer was talking softly to them.

Blankets were wrapped around them as they were led to the officer's vehicle and taken to the hospital.

Even after they had been sitting with the officer in the hospital waiting room, all Kurama could see was the blood stained snow.

He gritted his teeth as he wrapped his arms around his trembling brother.

A psychiatrist had tried to talk to them earlier, but Kurama hadn't trusted his acting skills while his mind had been in such turmoil, so he had ignored her until she left. Tsuna simply followed his lead, like he did with most things pertaining to strangers.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that before a nurse finally made an appearance and informed the officer that their mother was now stable and they could visit her.

They practically stepped on the woman's shoes as she led them through the winding hallways to their mother's current room. It really couldn't be called a room Kurama noted dully as Tsuna scrambled toward the bed tears and snot streaming down his face when he caught sight of his mother. It was tiny and there wasn't even a door, just a curtain. He supposed she'd probably get a real room later, but there was no telling when that would occur.

He shifted awkwardly to a corner while the nurse helped Tsuna curled up next to their mother on the bed. She was smiled gently and telling Tsuna to be 'really careful because his mommy was very hurt and couldn't move her arm very well'.

His mother cooed softly over Tsuna telling him she was okay and not to worry.

She was still very pale.

Her eyes were slightly tight around the edges from pain.

Her voice wavered a little bit as she tried to answer some of the officer's questions before the man decided to let her rest and gave her his name and phone number for a later meeting. Both the man and the nurse glanced at him as they left, but neither said anything.

His mother murmured comforting words to Tsuna as he drifted off to sleep.

Kurama flinched and looked away when her eyes turned to him.

"Come over here, Shuichi." She said softly. "Give your Mama a hug."

He didn't hesitate to climb onto the bed, the opposite side of Tsuna, but then paused in uncertainty. His mother laughed softly and stiffly moved her hand to cup his head and pull him to her chest.

"I'm so glad you're okay." She whispered as Kurama laid there stiffly. "I was so afraid I was going to lose you."

He didn't say anything. He wasn't sure what to say. But he did curl his small hands into the fabric of her hospital gown and hid his face into her stomach. He stayed like that until her soft breathing finally lulled him into unconsciousness.

_Me too._


End file.
